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Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House Book Summary and Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House




St. Martin's, Oct 2002, 23.95, 256 pp.
ISBN 0312207697

After working a free lance public relations job in London for over a month, Agatha Raisin is glad to return to her quaint college in Carsley in England. Still hurting from her divorce, she doesn't even try to get acquainted with her new handsome neighbor Paul Chatterton. One day while she is relaxing in her garden with her two cats, Paul approaches her about investigating a house the owner claims is haunted.
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Feeling ennui, Agatha agrees to examine the woman's claims but when mist starts appearing in the living room in the middle of the night, Agatha gets scared and runs off. A few days later, the woman is found dead and when Paul and Agatha attend the inquest, they learn she was murdered. Paul eggs Agatha into snooping around with him and they quickly find out that the woman had a lot of enemies including her own children. Yet when a suspect is arrested, Agatha thinks the police have the wrong person and starts digging deeper and in the process almost gets killed by a very determined murderer.

Fans of the Agatha Raisin mysteries will understand why they are so addictive but first time readers of this series should note that once they are finished with this novel, the reader will want to immediately obtain the complete backlist. The heroine may be contrary, ornery and raunchy but she takes no guff from anyone. She tries to project an image of a hard woman but inside she is vulnerable and lonely which is why readers care so much about her.

Harriet Klausner

The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner



Chapter Analysis of Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House

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Plot & Themes

Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases 10%Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives 40%Feelings, relationships, character bio/development 30%How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) 20% Tone of story    -   suspenseful (sophisticated fear) How difficult to spot villain?    -   Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues Time/era of story:    -   2000+ (Present) What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot?    -   70% Misc. Murder Plotlets    -   Proving innocence of very obvious suspect Kind of investigator    -   amateur citizen investigator Kid or adult book?    -   Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot?    -   feelings of fear/loss/inadequacy Crime Thriller    -   Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown)    -   Yes

Main Character

Gender    -   Female Profession/status:    -   retiree Age:    -   40's-50's Ethnicity/Race    -   British

Setting

Europe    -   Yes European country:    -   England/UK

Writing Style

Accounts of torture and death?    -   generic/vague references to death/punishment Amount of dialog    -   significantly more dialog than descript

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M.C. Beaton Books Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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